“I picked stuff out that I knew I wouldn't eat or need,” Lathan said. “It only took a couple of hours to make the night before.

His car, with a celery body and toothpicks holding the Brussels sprout wheels together, was declared the winner when it made it down the ramp the farthest during the Tuesday, March 4, event.

“I was really surprised I won, I didn't think it would make it all the way down.”

Ten fifth-graders showed off their skills making cars out of anything they could find around home, such as Rice Krispies, Fruit Roll-Ups, pineapples, celery sticks, bananas and other food items.

“This wasn't an assignment or for extra credit, but just a challenge for the students,” said Jennifer Raburn, a fifth-grade science teacher. “I've made it a goal to incorporate fun and learning to get more students to enjoy science.

“The kids were really geeked about this; it was just one more activity to add to the arsenal in making science fun.”

The cars were rolled down a 40-by-11 inch piece of plywood. The entire fifth grade was there to cheer as some succeeded, some crashed and others stood at a standstill at the top of the ramp.

Whether the students' cars rolled or not, Raburn said she was impressed with the creativity of each vehicle.

Gabby Crandall tried to make her car resemble an actual one, using an assortment of items.

“My grandma and I thought of the idea to wrap two bananas with four or five Fruit Roll-Ups so it would give it the shape of a real car,” Gabby said. “We used clementines for the wheels because we knew the bananas would make it heavy.”

Her car may have not budged when it got to the ramp, but it was one of the few cars that didn't fall apart.

Seventh-grade teacher Llyod Hilger organized the event as he continues to try and pitch new ideas to gather interest in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects.

“I put on workshops for science and engineering activities and will be showing the results from this event at my next one,” Hilger said. “We try and come up with activities that will get all grade levels interested in engineering.

“It’s very important that we rid the misconceptions about engineers at an early age; this can be fun and you don’t have to be alone to do it.”